


the ghost of you

by kurokn



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Characters Added As They Appear - Freeform, Ghosts, M/M, Medium AU, NOBODY IN THE MAIN ENSEMBLE WILL DIE, Psychic Abilities, Rating May Change, Supernatural Elements, depictions of death - varying levels of graphicness, minor character injury
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-04-08 03:11:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4288494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurokn/pseuds/kurokn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes he experienced the last moments of the recently deceased in vivid detail, and he would always make this shitty coffee and down it with dark circles and frown in place once he decided it wasn’t too horrendously early. </p>
<p>Or: Sugawara Koushi can communicate with the dead, and Sawamura Daichi is quite the interesting case.</p>
<p>ON TEMPORARY HIATUS</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi!!  
> so first things first, i know i should probably work on WIHA but i'm just really stumped right now. this is the new project i was talking about though, so i hope you enjoy this while you wait!  
> i really love stories involving ghosts and mediums, so i'm indulging myself. daichi isn't in this chapter, but have no fear; he will make his appearance soon enough. tell me what you think?

The black of unconsciousness fades into the oranges, reds, and choking heat of fire. When Sugawara’s eyes open, he finds himself trapped in a small bedroom as growing flames suck at the remaining oxygen. He gasps and immediately his body is wracked with an intense coughing fit from all the smoke he’d just stupidly inhaled. His eyes water as the spasms fade out and he presses his hand to his chest for a moment as he wheezes. Crouching down to the floor, he breathes easier for a second as he considers his situation. He knows one thing for sure: his only path for exit is the door about ten feet in front of him.

He stumbles over to it quickly and hisses as he grabs the doorknob, retracting his hand on reflex as the metal burns his palm.

_This is the only way out._

Suga steels himself, pulling up the hem of his now soot-dusted shirt to offer a little protection for his hand. He knows it’s really only to mentally prepare - the heat won’t be stopped by the thin cotton. Once again, he grabs the knob and bares his teeth as he jerks the door open, and the new heat that hits his front knocks the breath out of him. He doesn’t give himself time to panic as he hears indistinguishable shouting filter from the flight of stairs down the short hallway in front of him. The house creaks as he takes each step and part of him wonders how structurally sound this house can be at this point - flames lick up all of the visible walls and smoke hangs thick near the ceiling. Glass shatters somewhere as he takes another step. His breath shudders as the floor sags under his foot and he jumps a few feet forward. He’s almost to the stairs when he hears creaking much louder and closer than before.

And then he’s on the floor, dazed. Something painfully heavy presses against his legs, and when he twists around his fears are confirmed - he’s pinned to the floor by a large wooden beam.

This is it, he’s going to die. This is horrible. This is terrifying.

This isn’t real.

When this realization hits him, Suga wants to cry with relief. He’s brought back to Earth by the realization that this _is_ real, it just isn’t happening to him. The flames close in on him as he laughs hysterically, the stress getting to him. As the fire begins to sear his fingers everything vanishes and he’s suddenly jerking upright in his bed, drenched in cold sweat and gasping for air.

His apartment is dead silent save his labored breathing. As Suga collects himself, he looks over at his nightstand and sees turquoise numbers spell out the time: 2:37 AM. He groans as he falls back on the sweat-dampened sheets. He particularly hates the flashbacks involving house fires; something about them seemed particularly hopeless to him and it really did a number on his mental wellbeing.

He knows himself. There's no way he's going to fall back asleep tonight, so he picks up his phone to scroll through his social media and email. This keeps him busy for a good couple of hours and at 5:45 he can justify getting an early start.

Dragging himself to the tiny kitchen, he starts brewing coffee as he scrubs at his eyes. He can feel the ache of sleep deprivation building in the sockets already. Damn these stupid flashback visions. The sound of bare feet padding toward the kitchen brings him back to the present, and a few seconds later Suga’s roommate Kuroo makes his appearance.

“Morning, sunshine.” The man jokes when he sees Suga’s distressed face. His reply is an uncharacteristic grumble and the first cup of caffeine - he fills a mug to the brim and pushes it across the counter black. Kuroo picks it up and gulps down some of the scalding liquid as he studies Suga’s face. His brows knit together in concern. “How long have you been up?”

“Not that long.” The silver-head replies shortly.

“That shitty, huh?”

Kuroo was not the most spiritually open person Sugawara had ever met, but over time he’d grown to understand the reality of how his roommate lived. Sometimes he experienced the last moments of the recently deceased in vivid detail, and he would always make this shitty coffee and down it with dark circles and frown in place once he decided it wasn’t too horrendously early.

Suga offers a terse nod as he sips from his own mug, having already added cream and sugar. “It was a fire again.”

Kuroo hisses in disgust. “That sucks.” He wasn’t very eloquent or skilled in the art of comforting others, but knowing he got it was enough for Suga. They drank their coffee in silence after that.

About ten more minutes pass before Kuroo pushes away from the counter. He tosses back the last of his second cup and then puts the mug in the empty sink. “I gotta get ready for work.” Suga hums his acknowledgement and they nod to each other as Kuroo retreats to the bathroom.

Suga’s phone is sitting on the counter, and when it starts ringing the vibrations produce a grating noise on the faux granite. A glance at the screen shows that the call is from Hinata, and he sets his cup down as he answers.

“Hinata, it’s 6:17 in the morning.”

“I know! I’m really sorry!” He sounds full of regret - and fear.

“What is it?” Suga presses, apology acceptance not voiced. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, I’m opening the shop today and I kind of... I kind of knocked over one of the shelves and it broke.”

“One of the big ones?”

“Yeah…”

Suga wants to hang up, and for a second his sleep-addled brain seriously considers it.

His eyes close and his lips press into a firm line as he breathes out through his nose. It’s too early for this, especially after how little sleep he got.

“I’m on my way.” He says, already trudging to his room to find a change of clothes. “I’ll be there in 20.” And he hangs up, not waiting for Hinata to protest. This was going to be a long day.

  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

When Suga pushes open the back door of Two Crows, he can already hear Hinata rushing around the front of the shop. He leaves his things in the back room and heads up front. He already wishes he’d brought more coffee with him.

Sure enough, Hinata is making another of many haphazard stacks of books away from the wreckage. Suga’s quick survey of the area shows the large case closest to the door damaged, two shelves slanting down dramatically on the right side. The frame is still standing. It’s fixable, and they still have just over an hour before the store opens.

“Suga! I’m really sorry, I don’t know what happened! I was refilling the best sellers and it just collapsed!” His voice is climbing in pitch, and Suga puts a hand on his shoulder and locks eyes with him.

“It’s okay, Hinata. It breaks like this every once in a while. Quite easy to fix, really. I just need to replace something on the backs of the shelves and they’ll be as good as new!” He then pats the short redhead on the back and turns to help him remove what’s left of the books. Those will be a pain to put back in order.

Almost exactly one hour later, the shelves look as they had before they broke - perfectly ordinary and structurally sound. Suga smiles at his handiwork as Hinata replaces the last few paperbacks. He looks at his phone and it’s 7:49, which means there’s only about ten minutes until they’re supposed to be open. They make their final preparations and soon it’s time to unlock the front door and flip the sign. Hinata connects an old iPod to the speakers and calm music filters through the small building, making soothing background noise. Suga can feel his mood improving now that it’s light outside and he’s had some caffeine. Speaking of which -

“I’m going to start some coffee. I’ll be right back!” He flashes a smile at his short coworker and heads for the back room again. The old coffee pot is plugged in on the counter right beside the doorway, and he flips the switch before adding the grounds and water. After a moment, the coffee starts dropping into the pot and he breathes in the scent it gives off. The fragrance in itself is refreshing, and when it’s done brewing he pours some out into the largest mug they keep in the store. It’s a whopping 25 ounces, blue and bulbous in shape. A drop falls onto his hand, scalding hot, and for a moment he’s reminded of his dream. He wipes it off, adds his cream and sugar, and gulps some down shakily before returning to the main room.

It’s a slow day, and most of the people who come in know what they’re looking for already or elect to browse without interaction. Suga finds he’s okay with that and hangs out near the counter with Hinata, occasionally hitting skip on songs he’s not a fan of. Hinata is a talker, discussing anything and everything that comes to mind, and as he talks he mentions how he has a job alone that evening.

“Wait, really?” Suga is snapped out of his sleep-deprived fog at this revelation. “Are you sure you’re ready for that?”

“Yeah, it’s a pretty minor thing. I already talked to the guy on the phone and it sounds pretty simple!” Suga levels him with a stern, almost parental look. “I promise I’ll let you know if it turns out to be more!”

“Okay.” Suga hopes he isn’t belittling him, he just gets concerned sometimes; Hinata can get panicky when things don’t go right, and he can remember one instance with a poltergeist where he’d actually vomited. It doesn’t help that while he can hear spirits clearly, he can only see a vague outline of them. Suga can see and hear spirits almost as if they were any other person in the room, and he can imagine that not being able to really see them could complicate the process.

“Are you okay?”

He’s shaken out of his moment when Hinata puts his hand on his shoulder. The redhead is looking at him with concern barely noticeable on his features, and he nods quickly before reconsidering. Suga’s always been pretty straightforward with Hinata.

“I’m going to get a job soon. It was a fire. I didn’t sleep that much last night.”

“Ooooh.” Hinata draws out the syllable. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” He says shortly. “I wonder when they’re going to call, though. It might take a while since it was a fire and all.”

“That’s right!”

Suga hums in response, leaning heavily on the counter. At that moment, the doorbell jingles and a petite young man walks in. He has chin-length hair that had obviously been bleached in the past, thick dark roots prominent along the part. Hinata greets him and bounds over, asking if he needs help with anything. The poor guy looks incredibly uncomfortable, but he seems to accept his help; he pulls a piece of paper out of his back pocket and hands it over. It must have a list of titles, because Hinata immediately rushes to a corner of the store to gather a small stack of books for him. After a minute, he ushers the blond over to the counter that Suga’s leaning on.

“This is Kenma!” Hinata says happily, dropping the short stack onto the surface as he starts to ring them up.

“Hi, Kenma.” Suga greets gently. He extends a hand to him, and Kenma takes it for a quick shake.”

“Hi.”

Suga glances at his purchases and is surprised. They’re all pretty niche, focussing on lucid dreaming.

“Be careful with these,” Suga begins amicably, “It’s pretty easy to slip into sleep paralysis if you don’t get it right. Be sure to read chapter 2 of this one,” he picks up one of the thicker books, “really carefully, because it explains what to do if that happens.”

“Got it, thanks.” Kenma sounds genuinely grateful, even as he continues to avoid eye contact. He glances through a few pages as Hinata gets his change.

“Do you want a bag?” Hinata asks as he passes over a handful of coins. Kenma nods and he quickly slips the books into a paper bag, sliding it across the countertop with a smile. “Let me know how it goes!”

For the first time since he’s entered the store, Suga sees Kenma’s lips twitch into a small smile for a brief moment.

“I will, thanks.”

And then he’s gone, sweeping out of the door nearly silently to leave the store once again void of patrons.

“He seems nice.” Suga says fondly, looking over at Hinata.

“Yeah, he’s pretty cool. He’s apparently done it a few times but he wanted to learn to control it, you know? Isn’t that neat?”

Suga chuckles at this. “Indeed. I hope he gets it right.”

“Me, too!”

Suga hears an odd noise, like a synthesizer might make, and then rap emanates from his pocket. He groans internally; Kuroo must have changed his ringtone again. Pulling out his phone, he sees an unsaved number. He waves it at Hinata, who’s giggling at the vulgar lyrics, and walks away as he answers.

“Hello?”

“Um… Is this Sugawara Koushi?”

“Speaking.”

“Well, I found your number online. Is it true that you deal with um… Spirits? Is that the right word?”

“Yes to both.” He chuckles. “What seems to be the problem?”

The man on the other end describes his plight: odd noises, sudden cold, the smell of choking smoke. Everything sounds pretty standard.

“So, how recently did you move in?”

“About three months ago. It’s a new place and apparently nobody’s died here, but the previous owner left some stuff behind if that helps.”

“It does, actually. I’ll start with that when I come over. When works best for you? I’m pretty open this week.”

“Is tonight too soon?”

Suga considers for a moment. “Nah, I’m free tonight. How does seven work for you?”

“Works for me. Should I just text you the address?”

“Sure thing. And I’m sorry, but I don’t think I caught your name.”

“Oh, I never mentioned it. I’m Sawamura Daichi, but you can just call me Dachi.”

Suga smiled at that. “Well, I’ll be seeing you tonight, Daichi.”

“See you, and thanks for coming on such short notice.”

“It’s no problem! Bye!”

“Bye.”

* * *

It’s 7:13 when Suga finally finds the right building. This is a part of the city he doesn’t normally find himself in, not being affluent enough to afford the living space offered. He walks inside and gets a sidelong glance from a woman at the counter before noticing a man sitting in a nearby chair. When Daichi texted him earlier, he said he’d wait for him in the lobby. Seeing as how he’s the only person around, Suga thinks it’s a pretty safe bet that that’s him.

“Sorry I’m late, I got a little turned around on my way over.” He says as he approaches the man.

It’s a good thing those are the only words he planned to say, because any others would have died on his tongue as Daichi came into full view. This man was exquisite. His hair was black and shortly cropped, skin smooth and tan, and jaw chiseled. Suga is actually speechless for a second, and he scolds himself for acting so unprofessional.

“Oh, that’s fine! Don’t worry about it.” Daichi stands and offers his hand, which Suga shakes with a bit too much vigor. “It’s nice to meet you in person. You came highly recommended.”

Suga feels his cheeks heat up at the kind words. “Well, thank you!”

“Shall we?” Daichi gestures to the elevator across the marble floor.

“Yes!”

They walk over and get on once it reaches the ground floor, and Daichi reaches past Suga to press 12. The doors slide closed and the elevator begins to move up swiftly. Mere moments later, it comes to a stop with a ding and the doors open to a wall of windows overlooking the small city. Suga trails behind Daichi, gaping at the view. They stop in front of one of the last doors on the right and Daichi swipes a card to unlock the door.

As soon as it opens, Suga can feel the temperature difference. He toes off his shoes but opts to keep his jacket as he hovers in the entryway.

“How long has the disturbance been going on again?”

“It started a couple weeks after I moved in, so maybe two and a half months? I kept telling myself I was overreacting.”

That makes Suga take pause. “Well, what made you change your mind then?” He follows Daichi as he walks into the main living area.

“Oh, well, you know that box of stuff the previous tenants left behind? I keep it in a closet down the hall but when I woke up this morning everything was spread out on the living room floor.”

“But the spirit hasn’t been aggressive, right?”

“Oh, no, but I figured I should at least ask someone else about it.”

“Okay…” Suga walks into the middle of the living room and turns to face Daichi. “Will you get the box, please?”

Daichi nods and disappears down the hallway. Suga hears some rustling and then a door closing before Daichi reappears, a medium cardboard box in his toned arms. He walked over and places it on the coffee table in front of Suga.

Still clad in his jacket, Suga slides down to sit cross-legged in front of the box. He wonders briefly how Hinata’s job went, but pushes the thought down to focus on his work. There isn’t a huge number of things in the box, and he gingerly pours them out onto the wooden surface. The few things in front of him seem random and unimportant - a t-shirt, a couple wooden spoons, a folder with some documents that don’t make any sense to him. None of them echo his dream, which means they don’t have a spirit attached to them.

“Is this everything?”

Daichi leans over his shoulder and analyzes the contents, brow furrowing after a moment. “No, it isn’t. Give me just a minute.” He walks away again, and Suga can hear him rummaging through the closet again. “Ah, shit!”

Suga is down the hall in an instant, fearing the worst. He finds Daichi in front of the open closet door. His index and middle finger are in his mouth and there’s a small metal case covered in black on the ground.

“What happened?”

“I found what I was looking for, but it was really hot when I picked it up. I think it burned my fingers.”

Suga crouches in front of the offending object. It’s charred on the outside and looks old. Hesitantly, he reaches out his own finger and touches the case. He’s instantly overwhelmed with images from his dream. He pulls back and coughs like there’s actual smoke in his lungs before standing up, waving off Daichi’s worried look.

“That’s it, all right.” He half-wheezes. “Okay, so I’m going to need to destroy that, and then you should be fine.”

He reaches down and can see Daichi flinch when he grabs the case again. The initial vision is now past, the only remaining effect feels more like déjà vu than anything. Instead of burning Suga’s fingers, the case now only feels a bit warm - a fact for which he is grateful. While Daichi’s concern is nice, it’s really not necessary and it’s making Suga feel distracted. He knows that he won’t complain, though; he doesn’t think he could say anything too confrontational to him at this point.

He puts the case in a big pocket on the inside of his jacket, and Daichi’s brows furrow together in confusion.

“This needs to melt completely, and I don’t have a way to do that here. I’m just going to take it to my building and throw it in the furnace in the basement. They never lock the door.” He realizes that this means he has no reason to linger and he finds himself disappointed. “I’ll call you in a day or two to make sure everything’s good, okay?”

“Sounds good. Is that really it?”

“Yep, it should be!” Suga replies with a forced smile. Daichi seems to consider for a moment before responding.

“Well, I’m really grateful. I don’t really know how much of supernatural things I believe in but you really helped me out. Thanks.”

“Oh!” Suga’s surprised by the earnest way in which he’s being thanked, “You’re welcome.”

“I’ll show you out, then,” Daichi hesitates as if deciding whether or not to say something, but then stays silent. He walks back to the entryway and Suga pulls on his shoes quickly, case suddenly heavy in his pocket.

“Well, bye, Daichi!” Suga says. Daichi mutters a quiet “yeah” and then opens the door for him.

As Suga walks home in the brisk air, he beats himself up for not being more direct. He has the check-up call, but no other reason to contact Daichi; that fact makes him frown. He guiltily wishes that some problem would crop up so he could have a reason to come back, and is immediately shocked at himself.

Falling asleep that night after tossing the case, he hopes that Daichi wants to see him again and is braver than him. He falls asleep and doesn’t see fire anymore.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! i apologize for this being kinda late - i was experiencing some pretty intense writer's block and just finished proofing this a few minutes ago. i hope you like it!!  
> 

Around midnight, Suga’s phone pings with a text. He picks it up from his nightstand and sees a text from Hinata.

> hey suga?? could you possibly take my shift tomorrow

Suga frowns, concerned as he types his reply.

< Sure. Are you okay?

The response takes a few minutes, and he feels himself pulled back to wakefulness even though he hadn’t realized he was drifting. He squints into the bright screen.

> yeah im fine just kinda sick

< Did your job go alright?

> yeah its all good!! just kinda intense

< Okay. You were supposed to work until close, right?

> yep

< Got it. Go to sleep, Hinata.

> ok. you too suga

He locks his phone and plugs it back in, laying back on his pillow to stare up blindly in the dark. Faint city noises filter through the thin glass of his window and Suga feels himself nodding off when there’s a creak from the hallway. This seems odd to him, since he’s never noticed a creak in the floor there. He gets up, still half-asleep, and walks over to open the door.

Suga immediately realizes what’s going on. This isn’t his hallway, and the fancy wooden floor belongs to a different home. He feels the urge to walk toward the noises of banging and crashing down the hall, so that’s what he does. This has been happening for long enough that he knows not to fight it. He pushes down the beginning of fear he feels at the back of his mind as he sees light filter from what he assumes to be the kitchen. Shelves along the wall seem suspiciously empty, and some books lay haphazardly on the floor. Suga steps around them and curses silently when polished wood creaks under his foot. Hushed angry whispers become clearer and he stops short of the doorway to listen.

“Will you shut the fuck up? We don’t know that we’re alone, you idiot.”

“Sorry, damn. Open the door, man, we should go.”

I’m being robbed! This incredibly obvious conclusion is all that goes through Suga’s mind before he steps into the doorway, blinking against the comparatively harsh light flooding the room.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” He asks, cursing himself, or rather, the soon-to-be dead person whose last moments he’s living. What an idiot.

“Oh, shit!” One of the two young men shouts, making a break for the door. Neither of them have masks on, and the one who trails behind backs away with wide eyes focussed on Suga.

“Stop!” Suga finds himself lunging at the bag he has slung over his shoulder, and the intruder jumps back, slamming into the counter. His hand is right beside the knife block, and Suga already knows how this is going to end. Sure enough, the young man grabs the biggest knife and holds it out in front of himself as he tries to follow his partner.

“Look, man, I don’t want to hurt you.” He looks petrified, eyes as wide as saucers and hand shaking.

“Give me back my fucking stuff!” Suga jumps forward, feeling seething rage not only from this man’s experience, but also his stupidity.

And then there’s the literal definition of stabbing pain in his gut. He doesn’t want to look down, but he does; thick red runs over his fingers and he immediately feels weak. A shuddering breath comes out of him as he falls gracelessly to his knees, and the intruder steps back, pulling the knife with him. Suga can’t help the pained yell that rips out of him, and is nauseated by the thick cover of dark red completely obscuring the blade. He can hear shouting, maybe even blubbering, but it’s too far away and his vision is fading. He pitches forward and the ground rushes up to meet his face.

Suga jolts awake in his own bed, for real this time, shaking. He gasps for air and squeezes his eyes tightly shut; subconsciously, he presses his hands to his abdomen and finds it unscathed.

The time passes unbeknownst to Suga. He refuses to look at the clock until his breathing is under control, and when he finally checks it’s 4:47. His normal routine follows: he scrolls mindlessly through his different accounts, listens to music, checks his email, looks at his accounts again, and reads for a few minutes. At 5:23, he gives up and gets out of bed.

The day is slow and quiet. Suga works alone from open to 1:00, chugging coffee, when he’s joined by Asahi. Very few customers come in, and he mainly wanders the aisles and anxiously (only partially thanks to the coffee) wishes his phone would ring with a call from Daichi.

Stupid, he thinks. There’s no reason for him to call you. Don’t get your hopes up. What if he’s not even interested?

At that moment, his phone pings and he jumps. He pulls it out of his back pocket to find a message from Yamaguchi. He hates himself for being disappointed.

> Hey suga!! Tsukki and i are going to the bar tonight if you wanna join us :)

Suga smiles. It’s been a while since he went out with them. He’s tired, unbelievably so, but he wants to see those two.

< Sure! When will you be there?

> We were thinking 9ish??

Harsh. Suga knows that this means he won’t be home until the wee hours of the morning. He doesn’t fight the plan, though.

< Okay, see you then!

He puts his phone back in his pocket and mills around some more, eventually making his way back to the counter where Asahi is stationed.

“Hey.” He says with a smile, leaning on the counter. The tall man starts, looking up from his book.

“Hey, Suga.”

“What are you reading?” He asks gently, trying to read the cover.

Asahi closes the book, looking at it himself before angling the front toward Suga. The cover reads Cassell Dictionary of Superstitions. Suga can’t help but giggle lightly.

“You’re reading a dictionary?”

“Yeah.” Asahi chuckles. “It’s actually really interesting.”

“Are you closing tonight too?”

“Yep. Haven’t you been here since open, though? We normally don’t get scheduled for a full day at a time.”

“I have. Hinata was going to be closing today, but I took his shift.”

“Ah.” Asahi doesn’t ask much more. He knows Hinata pretty well and already knew about his job, so he’d been able to put together the situation for himself. “Did it go okay?”

“From what I understand. He didn’t tell me that much, though.”

At the moment, the doorbell jingles as a familiar face walks in. Kenma sees Suga and Asahi immediately, but he looks around for a moment longer before approaching them, looking slightly disappointed.

“Hey, Kenma!” Suga says, smiling.

“Hi.”

“What’s up?”

“Uh.. Is Hinata here?”

Suga shakes his head, pursing his lips for a brief moment. “No, I actually took his shift today. Did you need something from him?”

Kenma halts, choking on his words. He glances off to the side and it looks like he’s biting the inside of his cheek.

“Ah, no, I’ll just come back…” He turns and walks toward the door.

“He’s working tomorrow if you want to come back then!” Suga calls to his back. Kenma doesn’t turn back, simply offering a thumbs-up as he slips out of the front door. Asahi waits for the door to close completely before turning to Suga.

“Who’s that?” He asks curiously.

“Oh, his name’s Kenma. He came in the other day and bought a whole bunch of books on lucid dreaming, and Hinata made him promise to tell him how it went.”

“Ah.” Asahi seems like he wants to say something else, but he keeps his mouth shut in favor of reading his dictionary. Suga chooses to not push it, and the rest of the work day passes without incident.

* * *

Asahi is a rather obsessive cleaner. What this means for Suga is that closing takes ten minutes longer than normal and he doesn’t get to the bar until nearly 9:15, pushing through the front door as he unwraps his scarf from his neck. He thinks to himself that he really should’ve texted Yamaguchi as he scans the booths along the walls. When he spots the couple he’s looking for, he slips through the crowded standing room quickly and shuffles into the empty side of the booth.

“Sorry I’m late! I closed with Asahi today, and apparently we really needed to clean out the drawers at the counter before we could leave.” Suga smiles lightly as he tugs off his jacket, depositing it on the seat with his scarf.

Sitting in front of him are two of his friends from high school. Tsukishima sits with his arm draped casually around Yamaguchi, who’s smiling brightly at him. They’ve been together since their second year of high school and are inseparable.

“It’s no problem!” Yamaguchi tells him, and Tsukishima says nothing. He asks what Suga wants to drink and then the two slip out to go get it from the bar. Suga leans his head against the seat back but refuses to close his eyes; something inside of himself is afraid he’ll fall asleep instantly if he does. He doesn’t have to fight off sleep for long, though - Tsukishima seems to push to the counter and get their drinks in no time, and then he and Yamaguchi are sliding back into the booth with almost no warning. An Amaretto Sour is pushed across the table as the two settle effortlessly back into the same position they’d been in before. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima both hold pint glasses.

“So, Suga, how’ve you been?” Yamaguchi asks eagerly, taking a gulp of his beer with a smile plastered on his face.

“Ah, good, I’ve been busy with the store and side jobs.”

“Ooooh!” That catches his attention. Yamaguchi is a strong believer in the supernatural, and loves hearing Suga’s stories from when he handled different kinds of hauntings. He’s practically bouncing his seat. “What kinds of jobs?”

“Nothing too weird, actually. Mostly cursed objects. I-” He stops short, not sure whether or not he should discuss murder by stabbing while enjoying a drink with his friends. He takes a drink.

“You what?”

“Oh… Well,” Suga finds a way to save himself from discussing _that_ just yet, “I had a job just last night, actually!”

“Really? What happened?”

“It was a cursed object, no real surprise there. The guy had been living with the spirit in his apartment for almost three months! I mean, who just tells themselves to not worry about that kind of thing for that long? It was taking stuff out of his closet and throwing it into the living room.”

“Whoa! Seriously?”

“Yeah!” Suga finds himself looking on the memory fondly, smiling instead of feeling annoyance at Daichi’s stubborn nature. “It was pretty simple. The spirit burned the poor guy’s fingers, though.”

“Oh, no! How did that happen?”

“It was attached to a metal case, so it was pretty easy for it to generate heat. I was kind of surprised it affected him, though. That doesn’t normally happen. I’m gonna call him tomorrow to make sure everything’s fine.”

Tsukishima speaks up for the first time at this point. “You don’t normally bother to call back on cursed objects, though. What’s so special about this guy?”

“Oh, nothing really.” Suga chuckles.

“Are you… Sure about that?” The tone of Tsukishima’s voice and the glint in his eye hints at teasing; he’s obviously already connected the dots. Suga can’t help but glare.

“Yep.” He doesn’t really know why he’s challenging Tsukki at this point. It might be the sleep deprivation. Scratch that, that’s definitely what it is.

“You gonna ask him out?”

Suga can immediately feel his face heat up, and he can’t get out an intelligible sentence; he stutters his protests before ultimately resigning himself to the truth.

“Probably not, no.” He completely deflates, slumping in the booth. Yamaguchi cuts back in with a gasp.

“But why not?!”

Suga feels his phone start to vibrate in his back pocket, and he mutters something about Daichi probably not being interested as he pulls it out. He’s shocked to see that the call is coming from none other than Daichi himself. The fact that he’s calling Suga instead of the other way around makes him worried.

“Uh- wow. Sorry, guys, I should probably take this.” He says, sliding out of the booth. Yamaguchi actually huffs at him, and he laughs as he accepts the call. Suga can immediately hear crashing through the phone, and the smile drops off of his face. “Daichi? Hello?”

“Hey, Suga?! I seem to have a problem here- WHOA!” Glass shatters in the background, and there’s nothing from his end for a couple of seconds.

“What’s happening? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” Daichi nearly shouts, clearly on edge. “Are you sure that case was all that was haunted or whatever?”

“I mean, I would think so. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Stuff keeps flying off the shelves! All of my plates are broken, and the doors keep slamming open and closed. This seems very paranormal, Suga!” His voice is climbing in pitch, and then there’s even more shattering before he yells, “I can’t even keep my mugs?!”

“Daichi, listen to me.”

He doesn’t listen, or even reply. On the other end of the line, Suga can hear him swearing profusely. He tries again.

“Daichi!”

“What?”

“It sounds like you have a poltergeist, so you need to get out of your apartment right now. Do you have somewhere you can stay tonight?”

“Uh…”

“Daichi.”

“No?”

Suga can’t believe himself, but his mind is made up in an instant.

“Alright. Wait somewhere not inside your apartment, okay? I’m coming over.” He starts back toward the booth with resolve.

“What- Suga, it’s almost ten PM. You really don’t have to do this.”

“I really do. You’re not staying in your apartment with that thing overnight.”

Suga’s at the table at this point, and Yamaguchi and Tsukishima both watch him intently as he wraps up his call. He considers where in town he is before continuing.

“I can be there in about ten minutes. Will you wait in the lobby?”

“Y-yeah. Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. See you then.” Suga hangs up, and Yamaguchi asks before he can explain himself.

“What’s up?”

“It seems that he has a poltergeist.” He tugs on his jacket and throws his scarf on gracelessly, reaching for his wallet to throw some bills onto the table. “I’m really sorry about this, you guys, but I have to go.”

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi both object, the latter loudly saying, “Uh-uh!” while Tsukishima practically shouts, “Are you fucking stupid?”

“No, Tsukki, I’m not. But thanks.”

“You aren’t really going to a poltergeist on your own!” Yamaguchi cries, rather melodramatically, eyes bugging out at him as he makes sure he has everything.

Oh, yeah.

“Um…” Suga considers for a moment. That would be pretty irresponsible of him. “I’ll call Hinata on the way. I promise.”

This seems to appease them just enough. They allow him to leave after making him promise to check in when he gets done, no matter what time it is. Suga agrees, grateful that they care that much, and rushes out onto the sidewalk.

He’s not technically running, but he’s booking it down the pavement. His breath comes out in visible puffs as he rushes toward the apartment building. Suga pulls his phone out of his pocket and dials Hinata’s number, holding the phone to his ear. It rings, and rings, and rings until the automated message starts: _We’re sorry, but the wireless customer you called has a voicemail box that has not been set up yet._

This poses a new problem. As he dials again, Suga knows that he’s going to Daichi’s apartment with or without Hinata. His call goes to voicemail again, and he shoves his phone back into his pocket. It’s too late at this point; he’s pushing through the doors and into the lobby before he knows it.

Daichi is there, and they don’t waste much time greeting each other as they make their way into the elevator. He explains the full extent of the situation as they ride up and walk down the hallway, and then they’re in front of the door. Pulling out his key card, he turns to face Suga with concern apparent on his face.

“Are you ready?”

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! sorry this chapter is later than normal; i had some irl drama this week that made this chapter difficult to finish on time.  
> my knowledge of shoulder dislocation is based on personal experience (with a kneecap, though) and online research. please take all medical information in this chapter with a grain of salt. with that being said, enjoy!

When Suga follows Daichi into the apartment, he’s confused. The door pulls closed on its own and the apartment sits in tranquil silence. Daichi seems just as baffled by this as Suga is, huffing in annoyed surprise.

“I swear, Suga, I wasn’t lying.”

“I believe you,” Suga replies immediately, his voice tinged by confusion as he trails off. He truly does believe him, but he’s also confused by what’s going on. Stepping farther into the brightly-lit apartment, he sifts through his bag. He wasn’t planning on having a job tonight, so he has next to nothing of use with him. As he walks toward the living room, he passes the kitchen and zeroes in on the shattered white glass covering the floor.

"My dishes." Daichi offers as an explanation, anger leaking into his voice. Suga simply nods as he continues deeper into the apartment.

The havoc wreaked is obvious - everything is in some state of disarray. The apartment is eerily silent, though. Suga’s brows furrow together as he looks around the large room.

“So, can you tell me what happened in detail?”

Daichi shifts his weight from foot to foot, nervously hovering in the entryway for a moment before making his way over to where Suga’s standing. “Yeah, of course.” He motions to the couch, and they both take a seat before he begins.

“I was home all day today, and nothing happened until about an hour ago. I was making food when it got really cold all of a sudden, and I told myself not to worry about it. After a few minutes, though, I thought I heard someone. I stopped what I was doing and was just standing in the kitchen when I heard this loud ringing noise, like when you listen to loud music for too long, you know? Then my plate just flew off the counter. Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then my cup went flying, too. My cabinets slammed open and stuff started flying out of there, too, which is when I called you. I could’ve sworn I saw someone’s shadow, too.”

Daichi had become rather animated during his retelling, and now realizes that he’s waving his arms around frantically. He folds his hands in his lap with a self-conscious chuckle.

“So, is there anywhere you know of where stuff wasn’t broken or thrown around?” Suga asks curiously. He’s not really sure why since this information wouldn’t be particularly helpful, but he wonders.

“Huh. I didn’t really check, but do you want the grand tour?”

“Yeah!” Suga says enthusiastically, and Daichi smiles softly as he stands. He offers his hand and pulls Suga to his feet.

He shows Suga the kitchen even though he’s already seen it; it’s very high-end and one side opens up to the living room. That is very familiar by this point, as well. The short hallway to the left of the bar connecting them has the closet on the left and a bedroom overlooking the city on the right; the bedroom is in just as much disarray as the main living areas. A massive laundry room is at the end on the left. Suga gapes at this.

“You have your own laundry room?”

“Oh… Yeah.” Daichi seems almost embarrassed.

“I hope you realize how fortunate you are!” Suga says playfully, noticing his chagrin and trying to lighten the mood. Daichi smiles and laughs, so he counts it as a win. He does take note of the mess in distaste, though, pulling the door closed behind them.

They take a 180 and cross the living room again to pass into the other short hallway, this one having only two doors off of it. The one on the right reveals the bathroom; a bathtub-shower combination and toilet against the far wall, and a counter with two sinks against the door’s wall. Only one sink, the far one, has been in recent use. A toothbrush lays with bristles hanging over the sink, and a washcloth sits on the other side of the opening. Suga notices at the same moment as Daichi that a prescription bottle has been thrown to the ground, green and off-white capsules scattered across the tile floor.

“Shit.” Daichi mutters. “Sorry, just a sec.” He rushes to pick up the orange bottle from clear across the room, dropping pill after pill individually back into it. Suga kneels where he is and begins gathering the capsules closest to him. He doesn’t look at them too closely, choosing to respect Daichi’s privacy as he drops them into the bottle when the tall man holds it out. “Thanks.” He says, not making eye contact as he puts the lid on and places the bottle back on the counter. Suga simply nods and follows him down and across the hall.

This is the last door, and when Daichi opens it, it reveals a bedroom in pristine condition. It’s a simple room; a bed is against the wall of windows across from them, flanked by two small end tables. The bed is made, comforter folded down perfectly, and a bench is pressed to its foot. It looks like something out of a magazine.

Suga looks at the room incredulously. He really wasn’t expecting any room to go untouched, and yet Daichi’s is spotless. This serves to confuse Suga even further; the spirit’s overall behavior had been pretty bizarre thus far. Daichi seems just as surprised.

“Oh, weird. What does that mean?” He asks, facing Suga expectantly.

“I have no idea.”

The words are out of Suga’s mouth before he even stops to consider them, and he can see unabashed startled confusion wash over Daichi’s features. His reply is a simple “oh.”

Then there’s a loud screeching noise, grating harshly on Suga’s eardrums as he presses the heels of his hands against his ears. His face contorts in pain and he looks to make sure that Daichi is okay; he’s completely fine and seems to be trying to ask Suga the same thing, but his words fall on deaf ears. All Suga can process now is the incessant screeching, and he’s startled and confused. He breaks out of his reverie after a moment, moving into the hallway with his hands still pressed firmly against his ears. The trip to the living room is a short one, and Suga’s theory is confirmed - the noise is even louder there.

Nothing is flying through the air yet, a fact for which Suga is grateful, but he’s starting to really regret coming over alone. While it had seemed like the right thing to do at the time, he now realizes the situation he’s put himself in. This is over his head, and he thinks bitterly to himself that he really should have just insisted that Daichi stay somewhere else for the night.

As these thoughts finish their trip through Suga’s mind, a dark chuckle filters from somewhere in the apartment - no, it sounds like it’s all around him. The already brisk air drops in temperature a few more degrees and then it appears, slowly. A mass of solid, all-consuming black forms over the table in the living room. It looks like a sentient, floating ink blot, vibrating as it grows in mass. Suga gasps and jumps back before he can stop himself. Something about this seems familiar, but he can’t quite recall the information that he knows is somewhere in the back of his mind.

Daichi has walked into the open area of the living room by this point, and Suga only now looks at him. His eyes are perfectly round and he’s gaping at the thing over his coffee table. He takes a small step forward without considering himself, leaning in to try to view it better.

“Daichi!” Suga snaps, surprised by the venom in his voice, “Get back! What are you doing?!”

This seems to snap him out of it, because Daichi suddenly jerks away and makes eye contact with him for a brief moment. “Do spirits normally do this?”

“No…” He’s just about to recall what he needs, he knows it, and then it suddenly all comes back. “Oh my god.”

Maybe he imagines it, projects iconic imagery onto his situation, but he swears he can hear hissing from the dark mass in front of him.

“Daichi, go pack. Be quick.”

“What?!”

“We have to leave. We need to go as soon as possible. I can’t handle this one alone.”

Daichi looks like he has about a million questions, but he simply nods and promises to hurry before running back to his room. The uneasy status quo holds out for a moment longer, the thing over the table vibrating in place and Suga watching it closely, before it grows more.

“Shit, shit shit!” Suga whispers loudly. He knows that Daichi is hurrying, but he wishes he would hurry faster. All he wants is to get out of this apartment before one of them gets hurt.

He really should’ve known better than to tempt fate like that. All he can feel as he’s thrown backwards, other than a brief moment of shock, is a frustration with the universe. Suga knows as soon as his feet leave the ground that this is going to be painful, and his fear is confirmed when he slams into the wall, shoulder first, feeling a sickening pop and then shooting pain. He can’t help but yell in pain as he lands on the floor, shoulder jostled by the movement.

“Suga?!”

Daichi finds him gasping on the floor, clutching at his dislocated shoulder. The black mass shrinks rapidly and disappears for the moment being, and Suga can’t help but be grateful for a moment of peace. He laughs mirthlessly before replying. “I’m fine, I promise.”

“No, you’re not.” Daichi says anxiously. He does seem to calm down when he realizes that his life isn’t in danger, though, and he kneels by Suga’s left side to assess the damage. “Can you move your hand out of the way, please?”

Suga complies easily, wincing as his shoulder changes position when he lifts his hand.

“This is going to hurt.” Daichi warns, grabbing his shoulder before the joint and his upper arm. Before Suga can get a word in edgewise, Daichi jerks down on his arm and the joint pops back into place. Suga hisses through his teeth and squeezes his eyes shut for a moment before he relaxes a bit. His shoulder still hurts, but it’s just a dull echo now. He still holds completely still as he opens his eyes.

“You okay?” Daichi asks, concern obvious on his features.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Okay, good.” He stands, and offers a hand to pull Suga up. Once they’re both on their feet, a question pops into Suga’s mind.

“How did you know how to do that?”

Daichi seems surprised by the question, but he doesn’t take long to respond. “Oh, yeah. I coach volleyball, so I know how to do a few first-aid things. Setting dislocated shoulders happens to be one of them.”

Now it’s Suga’s turn to be surprised.

“Whoa, what? You coach volleyball?” He asks excitedly, shoulder all but forgotten for the moment.

“Yeah, do you play?”

“I mean, I don’t really get the opportunity anymore, but I did all through high school and college. I was a setter.”

“That’s so cool!”

“Yeah!” Suga stands there for a moment before remembering the gravity of their current situation, and subsequently, his shoulder. “We should really get going, though. Who knows when they’ll be back.”

“One sec.” Daichi says, darting back to his room. Suga holds back a groan, but is grateful when he returns a moment later with a black sling for his arm. Daichi puts it on for him, and they both pull on their shoes, Suga taking much longer since he’s working with one arm. They make quick work of getting outside; the elevator is still sitting on their floor and they ride down to the lobby undisturbed before walking out into the open air.

They walk in silence for a few block with Suga leading before Daichi asks the obvious question.

“So, where are we going?”

“My place.” Suga says simply, not making the eye contact that Daichi seems to be trying for.

“Suga,” Daichi’s voice sounds strained, “I really don’t want to impose. You don’t have to do this. I can get a hotel room, honestly.”

“Don’t worry about it! We have an empty couch, and it’s almost midnight anyway.”

Daichi seems like he wants to argue this point further, but he resigns himself after a moment of internal debate. “Okay.”

“Okay!”

They walk mostly in silence after that, and if Daichi notices Suga’s nerves he doesn’t say anything. When they arrive at Suga’s apartment, he pulls out his key and unlocks the door, ushering Daichi inside once it’s open.

“Well, this is it!” He says in a stage whisper, aware that Kuroo is probably trying to sleep. “You can just leave your stuff wherever. I’m gonna go get some blankets and stuff.” Then he scampers off before Daichi can stop him.

A moment later, he comes back with a comforter under his good arm. He starts trying to arrange it on the couch, but isn’t doing very well. Daichi walks over and touches his arm, and he stills under the contact.

“I’ve got this.”

“Oh. Okay.”

He turns and disappears again, presumably to go get more stuff for him. Sure enough, he returns a moment later with a large, fluffy pillow tucked under his arm. After handing it over to Daichi, he teeters back and forth on his feet for a moment.

“Do… Do you need anything else?”

“No! No, Suga, you’ve done more than enough. Please go to sleep.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Okay. Well, good night!” He seems unsure of himself, arms shifting uncomfortably for a moment before he holds out his right hand to shake. Daichi accepts awkwardly, his grip firm.

“See you in the morning!”

“Yeah, see you.”

With that, Suga turns and walks to his room. Daichi hears the door drift closed behind him, and he settles into his bed for the night. He suddenly finds himself very tired and drifts off in record time, images of the black mass filling his mind as he rests fitfully.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Daichi wakes up to find an unfamiliar face looming over him. He yelps in a very dignified fashion and jolts off of the couch, landing on the hardwood floor with a thud. As he comes to his senses, he remembers the obvious: he’s not in his apartment.

“Good morning, starshine!” The stranger chortles. “Might I ask who you are and why you’re sleeping on my couch?”

Of course. “Uh, yeah…” Daichi rubs the sleep out of his eyes, standing from the floor and offering his hand to shake. The stranger takes it in his firm grip and locks eyes with him. If Daichi weren’t still half-asleep, he might be intimidated. “I’m Sawamura Daichi. Sugawara-san brought me here last night.” The stranger’s eyebrows lift at that, and Daichi realizes what those words could imply. “Oh! No, no, no. Not like that. It’s a pretty long story, actually.”

The stranger’s face holds bemused confusion, but his amusement wins out and he laughs after a few seconds.

“I’m his roommate Kuroo Tetsurou. Nice to meet you, Sawamura-san.” He tells him as his laughter subsides. “You want some coffee?” When Daichi nods, he smiles widely and turns on his heel to walk to the kitchen. Daichi follows him and leans against the counter awkwardly as Kuroo fiddles with the coffee machine. He doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing; he keeps jabbing random buttons and scrunching his face up in confusion. After a few minutes of this, Daichi finally breaks the silence.

“Have you ever actually used this thing?” He asks, somewhere between amusement and disbelief.

Kuroo looks at him in mock hurt for a moment. “No.” He admits flatly, looking at the machine once again.

“Seriously?” Daichi laughs. “How were you expecting to make coffee if you don’t know how to use the machine? And why don’t you know how to use it, by the way? It doesn’t exactly look like a recent purchase.”

A huff whooshes out of the tall man and he grumbles, “Suga always makes the coffee.”

“Well, you’re in luck, because I just so happen to know how to use this machine. I have a similar one at my place.” Daichi pushes away from the counter, walks over to where Kuroo is standing, and begins pressing buttons and adding coffee. After a moment or two of work, coffee starts to dribble into the pot. Kuroo looks like he wants to do a victory dance. Instead, he settles for patting Daichi on the back and throwing a toothy grin his way.

As the pot fills with coffee, Daichi catches Kuroo throwing the occasional glance in the general direction of Suga’s room. Something in his eyes hints at concern. He grabs three mugs and sets them on the counter by the coffee machine.

“So, I take it that Suga normally wakes up before you.”

If Kuroo notices the dropping of honorifics, he doesn’t say anything about it. “Yeah, almost always. This is actually only the second or third time I can remember waking up before him, including when he got the flu last year.”

“Huh.”

The coffee’s done, and Kuroo turns to face him again. “How do you take yours?”

“Black, two sugars.”

“Nice. Just a sec.” Kuroo whips out a small box of sweetener packets and empties two into the first mug, filling it to the brim with coffee before sliding it down the counter. Daichi takes an appreciative gulp, nodding his thanks as he borderline chugs the scalding drink. He sees Kuroo fill the next mug and make no alterations before he begins drinking. They sit in comfortable silence as they drink. A few minutes later a door slams closed and shuffling feet can be heard approaching the kitchen; Suga comes into view moments later.

Kuroo nearly does a spit-take when he sees the sling on Suga’s left arm, choking down the coffee in his mouth before he demands, “What the hell happened to you?”

“Morning to you, too, Kuroo.” Suga’s smiling, but something seems off - he rubs at his eyes with his right hand, and there are dark circles prominent under them. “I just dislocated it. It’s really fine.”

“How?” Kuroo splutters, and now Daichi realizes this might have been wise to mention earlier. Too little too late, he muses. Being half-asleep makes him incredibly zen.

“Daichi here has a- well, he has a rather unpleasant spirit in his place right now and I wasn’t entirely prepared for it. It threw me into the wall.”

Kuroo jerks around to stare at Daichi again. “Is that true?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Huh.” He turns back to Suga. “You’re not going back, are you?”

Suga grits his teeth and looks off to the side. “Not alone.”

Kuroo looks like he has more to say on the topic, but he bites his tongue. He turns to the fridge and pulls out a bottle of coffee creamer. Getting the sweetener back out, he prepares a cup of coffee for Suga and hands it over. “Okay. Well, I gotta go to work. Nice to meet you, Daichi-san. Try not to break Suga any more, alright?” He sounds like he’s joking - mostly. Daichi nods and chuckles tensely as he slinks out of the room, leaving Suga and Daichi alone.

They also sit in silence. Something about the one they share feels more comfortable and more nerve-wracking at the same time, and the contradiction that holds isn’t lost on Daichi. He feels the need to say something, so he does.

“Hey, I’m really sorry about what happened yesterday. I shouldn’t have expected you to come over to my apartment at that hour, and you did anyway. So, I’m sorry, but also, thank you.”

Suga seems taken aback by his sudden and earnest apology. “You’re welcome,” he says softly, “Please don’t apologize, though. It’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, I just feel bad because…” Daichi trails off and gestures to Suga’s shoulder. They sit for a moment, the now definitely awkward silence only broken when Kuroo yells a quick “goodbye” as he pulls the door closed behind him.

“Do you have to work today?” Suga asks, and immediately wonders to himself if he sounds like he’s trying to get rid of Daichi. He really hopes he doesn’t - he doesn’t want Daichi to leave just yet.

“Nah, we don’t have practice today.” Daichi replies casually, and Suga can feel tension seep out of his shoulders. He winces slightly at the way his left shifts.

“Oh, yeah! You said you coach volleyball, right?”

“I did!” He seems happy with this new topic. “And you said you were a setter, right?”

“Yes!” Suga walks over to the living area and plops into one of the chairs, avoiding the couch so Daichi doesn’t feel pressured to clean. Luckily, Daichi follows suit and takes the other chair.

This opens a floodgate. Suga and Daichi burn through a multitude of topics, exhausting their shared knowledge of everything from volleyball to Oreo manufacturing and astronomy. Suga finds that talking to Daichi is as easy as breathing - the conversation never lulls once they get going, and he’s unsure of how much time is passing. He never finishes his coffee because he’s so wrapped up in Daichi’s wide gestures and intimate knowledge of increasingly random topics.

There’s a knock at the door, loud and frantic, and Suga wonders who it might be. A glance at the clock tells him that it’s almost 1 PM at this point. He apologizes to Daichi softly as he shuffles quickly to the door, whoever’s waiting knocking again with increased volume and urgency.

“Coming, coming!” He calls out as he rushes down the hallway.

When he yanks the door open, Yamaguchi doesn’t hesitate to shove his way into the entryway. He pulls off his shoes and calls out a “pardon the intrusion” amongst his ranting.

“Why weren’t you answering your phone? Did Hinata go with you? How did it go? Is the poltergeist gone now?” Then his eyes lock onto the sling. “Oh my god, what happened to you?! Does Tsukki need to hit someone? Do I need to yell at someone?”

Suga feels utterly overwhelmed. He may have known Yamaguchi since high school and he also may have experienced tirades like this on other occasions, but he still feels pressured under the load of questions he’s being asked.

“Whoa! Hey, calm down, Yama. It’s all okay.” He smiles at him reassuringly, but his friend doesn’t seem convinced. “Okay, so I dislocated my shoulder. I’m fine!” There’s heavy emphasis on that last statement - a part of Suga feels like he’s being mothered. Yamaguchi levels him with a concerned stare, a mixture of sternness and worry.

“Can I at least have some details?”

“Ah, sure…” Yamaguchi follows as Suga walks back toward the living room.  As he deflates a bit, Suga can see him sink in on himself. His friend loses track of himself when he’s upset, and always feels profoundly embarrassed when he catched himself doing it. Suga reaches up and pats his shoulder lightly.

Yamaguchi stops short when the hallway opens up into the living room and he sees Daichi. “Hello.” He says nervously.

Daichi had been looking at his phone, and he jumps a little bit when he’s addressed. “Oh, hi! I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had plans today.” The last part is directed to Suga, who smiles warmly.

“Oh, it’s not problem. I didn’t actually - Yamaguchi just stops by sometimes.”

Daichi puts his phone away and stands, walking over to extend his hand to Suga’s friend. “I’m Sawamura Daichi. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yamaguchi.” He replies, shaking his hand with a knowing smile on his face. He locks eyes with Suga when Daichi looks away, and Suga rolls his eyes at him.

“Do you want some tea, Yama?” He asks pointedly.

Yamaguchi smiles at him. “Sure. I’ll help you.”

They walk to the kitchen quietly, but that only lasts until they’re alone.

“So, that’s him? Why’s he here? Did he stay the night? He’s cute.”

Suga blushes a rather brilliant shade of red, facing away from him. He fills the kettle and puts it on the stove, turning up the burner before he relents and faces his friend.

“Yes, that’s him; yes, he slept here; no, it’s not like that. I couldn’t get rid of the spirit on my own and it was violent, so I gave him my couch for the night.”

Surprisingly, Yamaguchi is thrown off of his light teasing by that. “What, really? Why not?”

“It’s…” Suga lets out an exasperated noise, shrugging. His shoulder twinges. “I don’t want to say anything until I’m positive, but I don’t think-”

“Sorry, I got distracted for a minute. Do you need any help?” Daichi asks, leaning against the doorway.

Suga puts on a bright smile. “Oh, I think I’ve got this locked down. But it’ll be ready in a few minutes if you want some.”

“Sure!” He replies happily.

At that moment, Suga’s phone starts ringing in his back pocket. It’s still that rap song Kuroo had changed it to, and Daichi and Yamaguchi both barely suppress a laugh at the vulgar lyrics.  Suga glances down with a blush and reads an unknown number.

“I’ll be back. You know where everything is.” He directs the second part to Yamaguchi who nods. Satisfied, he accepts the call and leaves the room.

Daichi and Yamaguchi make idle conversation while he’s gone, and soon enough the kettle is whistling. Yamaguchi jumps down from where he’d been sitting on the counter and gets out some tea and three more mugs. Daichi can’t help but notice the frankly enormous collection they have to choose from, and he smiles to himself. Yamaguchi pours the water and puts a bag in each before turning back to Daichi.

“Cream? Sugar?”

“As it is, thanks.” Daichi chuckles a bit at the vague disgust on Yamaguchi’s face as he hands over the first mug.

Yamaguchi is just finishing up his and Suga’s mugs when Suga returns.

“Thanks.” He smiles as he takes a drink of his tea, which is more cream than anything else.

“Job?” Yamaguchi asks, and Suga simply nods as he swallows the tea in his mouth.

“Yep.” He says, “I’m gonna take care of it tonight, probably.” That _probably_ is added after he glances at Daichi, realizing he still has a guest.

“Oh, don’t worry about me!” Daichi says, picking up on Suga’s hesitance immediately. “I’ll be fine, as long as you will be.”

Suga smiles as Daichi worries that he sounds like he’s babying him. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’ll be really simple.”

* * *

It was nearly midnight, and Suga was laying awake in bed. His job earlier had been just as simple as he’s imagined, but he was now left even more concerned about Daichi. The family he’d visited had been more than accommodative - they showed him around the house and he quickly eradicated the spirit.

In his confusion, he casually brought up some of the family’s names to see if Daichi knew them, and he didn’t. The reason he was left so confused, and feeling partially validated, was because this meant that his dream had nothing to do with Daichi or his apartment.

He’d never seen a spirit he didn’t know the cause of death for before. This left two options: either there was something wrong with him, or whatever was in Daichi’s apartment wasn’t a spirit.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OHOHO PLOT TWIST!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI HELLO um trigger warning for depiction of suicide at the beginning. all that's relevant is that it happens, so don't hesitate to ctrl+f “Oh my god. Oh my god.” to skip that part if you need!!

The brisk wind chills the tears streaking Suga’s face as he looks out over the city. He can’t breathe - he’s hyperventilating and sobs wrack his body as he gasps for air. The world is blurred to smears of light and dark as tears overflow. He’s completely overwhelmed. Everything is too much. The reason he feels this way eludes him. The roof of the apartment complex is empty save for him, and he’s extremely grateful that he’d found it that way when he stumbled up here moments ago.

_I could jump._

Whoa, what? He backs away from the edge of the roof, not that he’s particularly close to it to begin with. _I could jump. Nobody would be able to stop me. Nobody would miss me._

In an instant, his mind is made up. He’s at the edge in an instant, looking down at the road as his legs wobble unsteadily underneath him. As a last-moment thought, he pulls out his phone and opens up the messaging app - to send a last text to someone important.

The screen is lit up and displaying an open conversation, but the words don’t make any sense - the characters bend and blur together until they don’t even look like words anymore. His fingers move on instinct and even though he can’t read the screen, he knows what the message says: _I love you. I’m sorry._

As he pockets the phone, a thought occurs to him - you can’t read in dreams. That’s when he realizes with a shock that this isn’t really happening to him. It feels real. Suga can’t stop himself from taking a step forward, and another; he stands for a moment with his feet halfway over the edge. It feels real. He looks down again - the street is deserted. A final sob works it way out of his body and he steps over the edge.

It feels real. The sidewalk is rushing up to meet him, and he feels panic flood his body. _No, no no!_ This was a mistake, he knows that, but he can’t do anything to stop it now. He screams and sobs, and as he’s about to meet the asphalt, he jerks upright in bed with a yell.

“Oh my god. Oh my god.” It’s his mantra right now as he gasps for air, clutching his chest as he tries to get his bearings. He’s trembling, hyperventilating, and he feels tears start to prick at his eyes.

And then someone’s knocking on the door.

“Suga? Are you okay?” Daichi asks, sounding completely alert despite the hour. There’s also a note of concern there, and Suga’s heart clenches.

“Yeah.”

He can hear how fake it sounds immediately - his voice is too high-pitched and wobbly and his frantic gasping increases in volume as he projects.

There’s silence for a few beats and Suga’s beginning to think Daichi bought it when he hears a soft reply through the door.

“I’m coming in, okay?”

Suga barely has time to steel himself and try to spare some shred of his dignity before his doorknob turns and Daichi is standing in his doorway. He makes his way forward slowly - it’s dark and it occurs to Suga that he’s never actually been in here before. It only takes Daichi a moment to make it to the side of his bed. Suga realizes now how vulnerable he feels and he stutters on his inhale, frantically wiping at his face as if it’ll do any good. He’s sitting cross-legged at this point, looking at Daichi’s silhouette as he struggles to take deep and even breaths.

Daichi sits without another word and hugs Suga to his chest, which breaks down whatever shaky floodgate he had been building inside himself. In an instant Suga’s sobbing loudly, surely making a mess of Daichi’s shirt as he presses his face into his shoulder.

This man who he barely knows is sitting in his room and comforting him as he cries the most he has in years, and the discomfort is almost too much. In the back of his mind he hopes that he doesn’t wake up Kuroo, too - one witness is more than enough, and he doesn’t want to disturb his roommate’s sleep. Daichi rubs soothing circles on his back and he can actually feel himself relax into the touch. Suga’s breathing is evening out into a pace that doesn’t leave his lungs burning and while he’s still crying, it’s not as soul-crushing and intense as before. He sniffles and shifts back a bit, breathing in through his mouth as he averts his gaze to the floor. Unsure of what to say, he goes with an apology.

“I’m sorry.” He says, so softly that he’s kind of impressed Daichi heard him.

“Don’t be. Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” He tries to laugh but it just comes out as a shaky breath, which really doesn’t help his credibility.

“You wanna talk about it?”

Suga shakes his head. “It’s kind of hard to explain. You can just go back to sleep. I’m really sorry I woke you up.”

“I told you, don’t worry about it. If you don’t want to tell me then that’s fine, but I’m happy to listen.” Daichi sounds completely sincere, and Suga can barely make out his face in the dim light filtering through his window. He’s looking at him with such honest concern and Suga wonders how he’s so genuinely kind.

He ends up explaining everything to him - the dreams, the inevitable jobs that crop up following each one, and the one he’d just had.

“Do they normally affect you like?...” The question hangs unfinished in the air.

“Not usually.”

“Why did this one, then?” Suga visibly stiffens. “You don’t have to tell me!” He amends quickly.

“It’s okay,” Suga says, “It’s just… It was…” He takes a deep breath. “It was a… suicide. And it felt so real.”

Daichi nods and slowly moves toward Suga, giving him plenty of time to pull away before sliding his arm around his shoulders. He pulls until the two are pressed against each other’s sides and they sit in silence. Suga goes limp and lays heavily against him. This would normally feel too embarrassing to him, but his episode has left him completely drained and physically leaning on someone feels really nice right now. He doesn’t want to let this go on too long, though - Daichi should be able to get more sleep even if he can’t.

Sensing that Daichi will only go to sleep if he thinks he is as well, he sits up and fakes a yawn. He turns away slightly as if he’s trying to hide it, and Daichi takes the bait.

“Should I?...” He makes a vague gesture toward the door, and Suga nods heavily.

“Oh! Don’t let me keep you up.” He says, rubbing at his eyes for good measure. It works perfectly.

“Okay. Well, I’ll be in the living room.”

“Yeah. Goodnight, Daichi. Thank you.”

He pulls the door closed behind him as he leaves. Suga falls back onto his bed with his legs still crossed, pressing the palms of his hands to his face. A glance at his clock tells him that it’s 3:12 AM and he groans; he has work in the morning and he’s going to be running on under three hours of sleep. Again.

The brightness of his phone screen assaults his eyes, and he lowers the brightness as much as he can before scrolling through his apps for a while. He listens to his music too loud and tries to distract himself with Vines as he waits for an appropriate coffee-making hour - a task that proves more difficult when he factors in trying to let Daichi sleep.

At 5:45, he decides he can justify making his coffee quietly. As the pot brews, Kuroo saunters in and jumps up onto the counter as he chats idly - Suga honestly can’t remember a single thing he says. He’s so desperately exhausted that the words might as well be a foreign language. When the pot’s done, he pours a mug for Kuroo and wordlessly sets to work on his own.

He’s grateful that at least Kuroo wasn’t subjected to his… what? Panic attack? Whatever it was, he’s glad his roommate slept through it. He knows that he did because it would have been the first thing mentioned otherwise; Kuroo is a good guy, he just isn’t very tactful and would be desperate for details if he did know.

A few minutes later, Daichi rounds the corner and appears in the kitchen. “Hey.” He says sleepily. Suga makes coffee for him and hands it over quickly, the three lapsing into easy silence as they borderline chug their drinks. As per usual, Kuroo is the first to leave.

The atmosphere automatically shifts toward awkwardness; at least, that’s how it feels to Suga. He pours himself another cup and takes a drink of it black before the bitter taste floods his mouth and he gets the creamer out of the fridge. Daichi chuckles as he stirs his coffee.

Suga finishes his second cup as Daichi finishes his first and they go their separate ways. Over the past couple days they’ve fallen into an easy routine - Daichi takes a shower first while Suga tidies his room and does coffee clean-up, Suga takes a shower when he’s done, and then they share the sink. The bathroom is small and it’s a tight fit but they’ve been able to make it work.

Soon enough, both men are out the front door. Suga locks up and they go their separate ways when they reach the sidewalk.

“Bye, Suga!” Daichi calls over his shoulder.

Suga smiles as he wraps his scarf more tightly around his neck.

“Bye, Daichi!”

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi hi omg hi!!  
> so many apologies - first of all, sorry i dropped off the face of ao3 for a bit there. college started and i've just had... no time to write anything halfway decent that wasn't for class OTL  
> also, this chapter is a bit all over the place. I had some plot points that seemed to fit together well in this chapter, but it still feels a bit random. i hope you like it in spite of that!!  
> in light of my new schedule, updates will be decreasing to EVERY OTHER WEEK. i hate to do that to you guys but that's just what i'm gonna be able to realistically handle now. i'll try to make the chapters longer as compensation.  
> anyway, i really hope you like this since i made you wait so long for it!! don't worry; there will be more actual action soon >:)

That night marks a stark decline for Suga.

He’s sitting in the kitchen at just before 5 AM, making coffee as silently as he can as he reflects on the past week. One word comes to mind: sleepless. No matter what, his sleep (if it happens at all) is in short and often-interrupted bursts. As he considers, he realizes that the longest period he’s slept for in that time is two hours - and he’s fucking exhausted. At least he’s finally out of the sling.

They’re out of creamer now, but he can’t be bothered to care as he pours another cup and starts drinking. He sets it down with a bit too much force, the sound of glass hitting countertop ringing through the apartment, and he hears rustling from where Daichi’s sleeping in the living room. Shit.

He stands stock-still, listening for feet on the laminate or any other sign that he just woke Daichi up at 5:12 AM. When nothing happens for a minute, he breathes a sigh of relief and grabs the mug again.

It takes about 20 more minutes for Kuroo to make his appearance, and Suga goes to pour him a cup; that leads to him realizing that there isn’t enough left for a full cup. He avoids eye contact as he starts another pot with shaky hands.

“Suga?” Kuroo starts, “Did you drink… A whole pot of coffee?”

“Heh, I guess I did.” He chuckles uncomfortably. Coffee starts to dribble into the pot for the second time that morning.

“How long have you been up?”

Suga looks at the oven clock - it’s 5:34 now. “Just a little while.”

Kuroo looks like he wants to say something, but after a moment he settles back against the countertop and keeps quiet. The smell of coffee once again fills the small kitchen and Suga breathes it in with his eyes closed. At least he still has this while he deals with whatever he’s dealing with.

That thought reminds his sleep-addled brain: _oh yeah, you still have quite the situation on your hands._ He swipes his silver hair out of his eyes as he leans back against the wall.

When the coffee’s done brewing, he refills Kuroo’s mug and then his own on instinct. As he lifts the cup to his lips, Kuroo gives him a look that borders on anxious. He doesn’t see it, though, and the coffee is scalding as he swallows it.

That’s enough to make Kuroo vocal again.

“Are we out of creamer or something?” He asks.

“Hm?”

“Nevermind.”

The pot’s half-gone when Daichi joins them. Suga tries to appear more awake as he rounds the corner and appears by his side.

“Morning!”

“Hey.” Daichi smiles at him as he grabs himself a mug and fills it. The silence they sit in is more amicable - despite Daichi having to comfort him that first night, Suga’s kept him pretty impressively in the dark about how his week’s been. After a few minutes, Daichi seems to feel awake enough to actually converse.

“What are you up to today?”

“It’s my turn to clean and I don’t have work, so I’m going to make everything sparkle.”

Daichi chuckles at that. “Well, I’ve got to get ready for work. See you later.” He rinses out his mug and turns to leave.

“See you.”

Suga smiles after him as he leaves, gulping down the last of his mug. He reaches for the pot again but Kuroo puts his hand on top of his.

“I think you’ve had enough, Suga.”

He tenses a bit at that comment, but he knows it’s probably true. “Yeah, okay.” He says softly, instead placing the mug beside Daichi’s in the sink.

“I’ve gotta go, too. Later.” And with that Kuroo’s gone, sweeping out of the kitchen nearly silently. It’s kind of eerie.

Suga starts in the kitchen, and within twenty minutes he can tell that both Kuroo and Daichi have left the apartment. He pulls his phone out his pocket and turns on some music, letting it play through the speaker as he works.

The morning is a blur to Suga - cleaning is mind-numbing work in his mind, and he slips into autopilot as he moves from room to room.

He still doesn’t know quite what to make of that thing in Daichi’s apartment. It’s all he thinks about as he cleans; it’s like nothing he’s ever seen before. He’d spent the week scouring every reliable source he can find and had returned with nothing solid except no, spirits do not behave that way That’s unsettling to Suga, but it also confirms what some part of him already knew.

Robotically, he wipes down the tables in the living room. His train of thought slips away from him as he vacuums the rug, the powerful noise the vacuum generates cutting through him and making his head ache. As he turns it off a couple minutes later, he moves toward the wall to unplug it. He yelps as he trips over the cord, the ground rushing up toward his face. There’s a moment of sharp pain as his forehead clips the edge of a table, and then he’s enveloped in darkness.

 

* * *

 

The first thing Suga registers as he stirs back to consciousness is that his forehead hurts. He sits up quickly and his head spins for a moment, but it fades away almost as quickly as it appears. He glances at the table and can see a smear of red along the edge - he wipes his fingers at it and is relieved to find that it hasn’t dried into the wood. He cleans it quickly and buries the bloody paper towels in the trash before trudging to the bathroom to assess the damage.

It’s not that bad. Once Suga cleans the cut, he finds it to be pretty small, and it’s close enough to his eyebrow that he figures it might go unnoticed with a bit of luck. He puts a bandaid over it for the time being, telling himself he’ll pull it off when someone gets home.

This time, he doesn’t trip over the cord as he puts away the vacuum. A quick glance at the clock tells him that it’s almost 1 PM and he curses to himself; the last time he’d looked at the clock, it had been around 11 AM. He hurries to finish up the cleaning, and is done by the time 2 PM comes around.

As he puts away cleaning supplies, he walks around the apartment in a final sweep to make sure he didn’t miss anything. He puts away the Windex and paper towels when he’s done wiping down the mirror in the bathroom and slumps on the couch, sighing. His head is buzzing and he feels a bit lightheaded, so he leans back in his seat so that he’s looking up at the ceiling.

For the sake of productivity, Suga pulls out his phone to check his email; there are a few promotional newsletters that he deletes without opening, but then there’s a message that he’s actually interested in reading. It’s from Asahi. He thinks back to the email he’d sent out this morning almost as soon as he’d woken up - in his desperate and half-asleep state, he’d sent his friend from work a sloppy recounting of the events at Daichi’s apartment in hopes of getting some new perspective. He opens the email with excitement.

**Azumane Asahi**

**Re: My friend’s apartment??**

**10:46 AM**

_Hey, Suga! What were you doing up at 4:38 in the morning?_

_In any case, you’re right - that is really unusual and probably not a spirit. I don’t really want to say what I think it is until I see it for myself, so is there a way that I could go to the apartment with you? I understand if I can’t since I’ve never met your friend, but I think that that would be best. Just let me know._

_Asahi_

Suga rereads the message a couple of times and picks over the words. He’d had his suspicions, too, but Asahi confirming it basically made it fact. He types a quick reply.

**You**

**Re: Re: My friend’s apartment??**

**2:24 PM**

_Ah, I thought so. I’m sure he’ll be fine with that, but let me ask him when he gets home later. Thank you, Asahi!_

He hits send and locks his phone again, dropping it onto the cushion next to him. Suga’s toes curl into the shaggy carpet and he sighs, half out of some weird sense of relief and half out of general tiredness. That general tiredness seems to suddenly crest and he finds himself having to make a conscious effort to keep his eyes open.

_Why?_ Suga asks himself, and it’s a good question; there’s no real reason to not sleep right now. With that thought in mind, he pulls a blanket from where it had been laying over the back of the sofa and burrows into it as he lays down. It’s incredibly soft pulled snugly around his shoulders, and he drifts off almost immediately.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG HI HELLO  
> i'm so sorry omg i know this took forever. how long has it been?? a month?? way too long.  
> more interesting stuff will happen next time, but until then, have some fluff!!

Suga wakes up to pots clanging in the kitchen and the strong smell of spices permeating the air. He shifts under the soft blanket he wrapped up in earlier and squints in the darkness. A glance at his phone tells him that it’s nearly 7:30, and he shoots up from his position on the sofa. He half-stumbles forward as he rubs the sleep out of his eyes.

When he rounds the corner into the kitchen, he’s surprised to find Kuroo and Daichi working together to make a meal. He has to clear his throat to make his presence known.

“Hey!” Kuroo says loudly around a large bite of rice. Daichi chuckles at him, and Suga feels his heart clench.

“Why did you just leave me there? I could’ve helped you.” Suga asks softly. He gets himself a glass of water.

“Man, you were so adorable. I just couldn’t do it. Also, Daichi wouldn’t let me.” Kuroo gets a swat on the arm for that. “For real though, we’ve got this covered. You can just hang out until it’s ready.”

“Mm.” Suga murmurs softly, hefting himself up onto the counter out of their way as his phone dings with an incoming email.

**Azumane Asahi**

**Re: Re: Re: My friend’s apartment??**

**7:05 PM**

_Sorry, I know you said you’d ask your friend for good times but I’m pretty busy for the next few days, so I’d be looking at Saturday at the earliest. I thought I’d let you know._

Suga reads over the short email a couple of times before his mind catches up to the context.

“Hey, Daichi?” He begins.

“Yeah?” Daichi asks, stirring a pot as he glances over his shoulder.

“I have a friend who wants to come to your place to help. Is that okay with you? The earliest day he’d be able to go is Saturday.”

“My team has a game that day, but I could do the evening.”

“I’ll ask him.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket and types a quick reply to Asahi.

Kuroo turns to face Suga and a bright smile paints his face as he holds a pot aloft. “It’s ready.” He says darkly, and Suga can’t help but chuckle at him.

They eat at the tiny table pushed against the wall, shoveling rice and fried tofu into their mouths at nearly inhuman speeds. The room is eerily quiet considering that Kuroo is present, and in next to no time their plates are clean.

“That was great.” Suga praises after finishing off his water, stifling a yawn.

“Thanks! It was mostly Daichi, though.” Kuroo’s admission makes Daichi swat at him again.

“You helped, too, Kuroo. I still don’t know where anything but coffee mugs are in this kitchen.”

Suga giggles and stands from the table, swaying slightly as he regains his balance. Kuroo clears the table and then sweeps out of the kitchen, winking at Suga. Daichi rushes to join him at the sink, forcing his way to the pans before Suga can start washing them. They eventually settle on Daichi washing dishes and Suga drying them and putting them away, and fall into a rhythm pretty quickly. As Suga returns to his station after putting away one of the pans, Daichi says the first words spoken in a good few minutes.

“So, are you feeling any better?”

“Huh?” Suga squeaks.

“Oh, uh,” Daichi shifts on his feet as he scrubs a bowl, “I might be wrong, but you’d seemed really tired this week. You’ve been up really early, too…”

Suga just gapes at him.

“I’m really sorry, I didn’t realize I was waking you up.” He suddenly feels extremely uncomfortable; not only has he been disturbing Daichi’s sleep, but now they’re actually acknowledging his insomnia out loud. Daichi hands over the bowl for him to dry.

“It’s fine, I wake up pretty early anyway. But really, are you okay?”

Suga turns away as he answers, taking his time to put away the large bowl in the messy cabinet. “Yeah.” It sounds too high-pitched in his ears and he winces before turning back. He absentmindedly reaches up to touch at the bump on his forehead as he waits for another dish. When he looks up, his eyes catch on Daichi’s; they’re searching, his face pinched up in concentration.

“Okay.” Daichi passes over the last dish, turning off the tap. “Look…” He kneads at his hands, “I know we don’t know each other very well, but you… You don’t have to lie to me. I’m not going to judge.”

Suga’s voice is barely audible when he thanks him, wiping suds off of his hands with the towel.

They stand in awkward silence for a moment, looking anywhere but at each other. Suga folds the towel before putting it back by the sink, an idea striking him as he scan the countertops.

“What are your plans for the evening?”

“Huh? Oh! I’m not busy. Why?” Daichi asks.

“Wanna watch something? I’ll give you free reign.”

Daichi’s eyes widen a bit at that. “Really? You’re not going to complain when I pick another action flick, are you?”

Suga bites at the inside of his cheek. “I’ll keep my complaints to myself.” He chuckles. “Do you want popcorn?”

“We just ate.”

“That’s not what I asked!”

“Are you seriously still hungry?”

“It’s popcorn! We’re watching a movie, it’s the right thing to do.”

“The right thing?” Daichi repeats, barely suppressing a laugh, “So you’re one of those, then.”

“Yes, I am! Don’t you have a movie full of explosions to be choosing?” Suga asks defensively as he puts a bag of popcorn in the microwave.

Daichi just laughs as he turns to leave the kitchen, and a moment later Suga can hear faint noise as the TV turns on. Once his popcorn is done, he pours it into a bowl and joins Daichi on the couch as the opening credits to Die Hard end.

“Good choice.” Suga remarks, shoveling a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

“You don’t have to sound so surprised!” Daichi laughs, reaching over to the bowl, which Suga hugs to his chest protectively.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, I thought you were above this.” He nods down to the popcorn.

“I never said that,” Daichi maintains eye contact as he grabs a few pieces for himself and eats them. He smiles before turning back to the movie.

Suga faces forward too, but he isn’t really paying attention to John McClane’s trek through the tower as the movie progresses. He can feel where his side is pressed against Daichi’s, and the warmth is as comforting as it is exhilarating. Daichi reaches over for more popcorn and Suga lightly swats at his hand, smiling in spite of himself.

His eyes drift closed for a few moments, and then he feels Daichi shifting beside him; he pulls his right arm up from in between them and drapes it around Suga’s shoulders. Under normal circumstances (read: proper amounts of sleep), he would likely overthink this; as it is, he leans into Daichi’s side and sighs contentedly as he begins to trace circles over his upper arm.

The sounds from the movie seem muted to Suga, and he curls into Daichi’s side as he listens to the movie. He’s seen it enough times to perfectly follow the story even with his eyes closed, and it helps him not feel too nervous about the new territory they’ve just moved into. Daichi pulls him tighter against his side and Suga feels his heart stutter for a second, but in a good way; he smiles and relaxes against Daichi as the movie plays in the small living room.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Pan up on ao3 author KUROKN, crawling out of a cave and shielding her face from the sun. It's been months. In her hand is a new chapter, with promise of actual plot development to come. She chuckles nervously.]  
> wow. october to february. i don't really have a word stronger than sorry, but just know that i really am apologetic for how long this took. there will be more fairly soon as i have gotten a rush of inspiration recently and have the next few chapters planned out. this is mostly comedic relief but there is a bit of a tease near the end, and i'll probably get overexcited and just post the next chapter within the next couple of days. enjoy!  
> also, just a note: get ready for cards against humanity-esque humor. you've been warned.

Suga rubs his temples as he gathers snacks from the kitchen. It’s Friday evening, the day before their planned trip to Daichi’s apartment, and he's having some friends over. Kuroo had made an off-hand comment about how he only ever spent time with Daichi anymore, and Suga is a spiteful person, so within the hour he'd made plans for a gathering at their apartment.

Yamaguchi is sitting on the couch next to a rather cross-looking Tsukishima, leaning heavily against him as he laughs at some joke Kuroo made. Right now, they're waiting on Hinata and Kenma, who’s steadily become a good friend with his frequent visits to the shop.

Everyone in the living room is at least partway through their first beer by now, but Suga has yet to open his bottle. He feels enough off-kilter as it is. The cupboard is open and he pulls out a few things: some chips, dry cereal for Yamaguchi, and then apple slices from the fridge for himself. He gathers everything in his arms and carries it to the coffee table.

“If you want anything else, feel free to go for it,” he says with a thumb jabbed toward the kitchen. Yamaguchi perks up when he sees the box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and starts eating directly from the box as he finishes off his drink. “Where did Kuroo go?”

“He’s getting his cards,” Daichi shifts to the side to make a space for him, and he plops down without ceremony.

“Ah, great!” He chooses this moment to twist the cap off of his drink and take his first swig. “You know he’s not talking about a standard 52-card deck, right, Daichi?”

“He wasn't?”

Kuroo comes back into the room then, carrying an enormous black box with plain white lettering on the lid: ‘The bigger, blacker box.’ it says. Daichi looks caught between confusion and distress.

“He owns every expansion of Cards Against Humanity. It's his pride and joy.” Suga giggles.

“Oh, I’ve heard of this!” Daichi says triumphantly, smiling as Kuroo opens the massive box on the coffee table.

There’s a knock on the door then, and Suga smiles as he heads to the entryway, Kuroo explaining the finer details of the game to the group. When Suga pulls the door open, Hinata’s standing there with Kenma in tow.

“Oh, hello, Kenma! I didn’t know you were coming!”

Kenma’s eyes go wide at that. “You didn’t ask him?” he hisses at Hinata.

“Oh- oh no! I’m sorry!”

“Hinata, it’s fine,” Suga chuckles, “Just go on in.”

The two scurry past him and then he hears his friends greeting each other cheerfully. He closes the door and locks it before turning to join them.

 

“Everyone’s in?” Kuroo asks over the individual conversations around the table. Everyone quiets down as he counts the white cards, confirming that everyone has played. “Okay, here we go!”

“This is the prime of my life!” he begins reading the black card dramatically, “I’m young, hot, and full of… Kanye West!”

A couple of chuckles sound around the table. “Okay, next!” he flips over the next card as he finishes his third beer, “I’m full of wifely duties.”

The next card reads “three dicks at the same time,” causing Suga to snort in childish delight, then “a headache that’s definitely cancer,” “daddy issues,” and then the real kicker:

“And the final card!” Kuroo holds it aloft for all to see, “This is the prime of my life! I’m young, hot, and full of -- oh man!” he snorts, “I’m young, hot, and full of crippling debt!”

The table, full of drunk college graduates, descends into chaos. Suga grabs Daichi’s arm to keep from falling off the couch, and Yamaguchi’s laughing so hard that tears leak out of the corners of his eyes.

“Who did it?” Kuroo asks, and then gapes when Kenma raises his hand.

“I win,” he mutters as he plucks the card from Kuroo’s raised hand. Hinata scoffs.

“What do you mean you win? I’m beating you!”

“I have seven cards, Shouyou.” he even counts them to prove himself, spreading them into a fan shape so they’re all visible.

“You have to have ten, though!”

“No, you have ten in your hand and seven to win.”

“What?!”

Tsukishima snickers and Yamaguchi smacks his arm even though he’s laughing, too. Everyone helps put the cards back into the box and Kuroo stumbles down the hall to put it back in his room. Suga leans against the cushions.

“Shouldn’t we be heading out?” Tsukishima asks distantly, facing Yamaguchi. They communicate in a bizarre and vague manner, humming and making pointed eye contact. If Suga didn’t know them, he’d be concerned; he just calls a cab for them as they converse. It gets there with near-perfect timing, only idling outside for a moment or two before they finally stumble out the door. Everyone shouts their parting words as Tsukki closes the door with a bit more force than strictly necessary.

Suga’s still on the couch, head lying back against the cushions, and he starts when Kuroo hands him another drink. He takes a gulp and sits up to grab blankets for his friends, one of whom is already asleep.

Hinata’s passed out on the floor, the lightweight. Kenma is laying down beside him and struggling to keep his eyes open, Kuroo on his other side playing on his phone. Suga drapes a blanket over Hinata and indicates the stack to the others for them to get when they want. Daichi’s working on his drink when Suga rejoins him on the couch, and he smiles at him tensely.

“What’s up?” Suga asks, turning toward him with a leg pulled up onto the cushion between them.

“Suga… What’s in my apartment?”

Oh.

He freezes and then takes a long drink from the bottle in his hand, intentionally avoiding eye contact. “I don’t know, Daichi.” It sounds fake in his own ears. Daichi must be examining his face, but he doesn’t know for sure because he’s focussing on the TV’s dark screen as a distraction.

“Do you actually not know, or do you just not want to say?”

Daichi sounds incredibly sober considering how much Suga watched him drink over the course of the evening, and he catches Suga’s eyes when he glances over. His gaze is calculated and piercing as he searched Suga’s face for hesitation.

With a heaving sigh, Suga finishes off his drink and puts the empty bottle on the table with the others. “I’m not sure,” he starts, “but I have an idea. My friend’s coming because I haven’t dealt with d- well, with what I think it is. In person.”

“What do you think it is?”

“Nope!”

“Suga, come on!” Daichi actually _whines,_ and the way he drapes himself over Suga’s side betrays just how drunk he truly is.

“No, Daichi! If I tell you it’ll just freak you out.”

“Is it really that bad?”

Suga’s feeling more and more drunk as the seconds tick by, so he’s unable to stop himself before he giggles and says, “Oh, yeah.”

Daichi stills beside him, back to looking very serious. “That isn’t funny.”

“It also wasn’t a joke.”

“Then why did you laugh?” Daichi asks.

“Because I’m drunk!”

With that, they both start laughing in earnest, only stopping when Kuroo shushes them from where he lays beside Kenma on the floor in his own blanket burrito. Why he wouldn’t just sleep in his own bed escapes Suga, but he’s certainly going to use his.

He throws a blanket at Daichi, who fails to catch it before it falls to the floor. He stifles his giggles as he makes his way to his bedroom, and he might be asleep before his head even hits the pillow.


End file.
